Graduate Programs in Interpreting and Translating
Yurie Oshima, Keiko Yamamoto

16 July 2003

Graduate programs in interpreting and translating at Monterey Institute of International Studies in the U.S.A. and University of Bath in the U.K. were introduced.
Admission processes, course requirements, tuition, graduation requirements, and other information were given, followed by a Q&A session.

The speakers have kindly provided the following summaries.

Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation (GSTI)
Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS)

Yurie Oshima

Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey, CA. offers two-year graduate programs (MA) in translation and interpretation. Students learn translation, sight-translation, consecutive interpretation, and simultaneous interpretation in the first year. In the second year, students select one of four majors (MA in translation, MA in translation and interpretation with focus on translation, MA in translation and interpretation with focus on interpretation, MA in conference interpretation).

At the end of the first year, students take qualification exams (or 2^nd year entrance exams). Only those who passed the exams can become 2^nd year students. At the end of the 2^nd year, students must take professional exams. After graduation, most stay in the USA and work under OPT (optional practical training) up to one year. Acquisition of a working visa allows them to stay longer after OPT period expires.

In two years, a wide variety of topics from current events to science, technology, politics, economics, business and others are covered. There are also computer-assisted translation and software localization courses. Elective courses such as accent reduction, terminology management, court interpreting, editing/proofreading, intercultural communication, public speaking, project management are available.

Learning at the MIIS is not limited to intensively practicing and improving translation and interpretation skills. In Monterey, there are opportunities to learn other important things such as business protocol, professionalism, powerful negotiation method, and effective job searching and hunting. Moreover, networking with alumni and professors can bring great benefits even after graduation.

MA/Diploma in Interpreting and Translating – University of Bath (U.K.) 
(course year 2001-2002)

Keiko Yamamoto

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY

• 21 departments - European Studies and Modern Languages

• About 30 Japanese students out of over 1,000 international students

MA/DIPLOMA COURSE (1 year, full time)

• Japanese stream has 7-year history (European stream: more than 30 years)

• All students both in Chinese and Japanese streams choose PATH 2 (working in both directions between English and Chinese/Japanese) while European stream student may choose either PATH1 (students with English as their first or "A" language to offer two other languages, from French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish, working into English) or PATH2.

APPLICATION (Japanese stream)

• 16-20 students every year out of over 50 applicants

• Required documents: degree certificate and transcript, proof of language proficiency eg. IELTS 7.0+, TOEFL 600+ (CBT 250+) for Japanese applicants
  1^st Grade of the Japanese Proficiency Test (日本語能力検定試験) for　non-Japanese students.

• A translation test and interviews are held in Japan in January.

TUITION: 7,440 GBP (140-150万円) for course year 2001-2002 (7,990 for year 2004)

COURSE STRUCTURE (Japanese stream, course year 2001-2002):

September 2001-June 2002: 1 year intensive taught part (2 semester) including the final exam.

COMPULSORY COMPONENTS

ELECTIVES (with other streams)

    International economics
    Elements of law
    The institutions of the European Union
    Information technology in the hands of the linguist
    Approaches to professional work, etc.

FINAL EXAMINATION (in May or June)

Students who attain 55% or more → proceed to the MA.
Those who did not achieve 55% (but scored more than 45%) OR　those who scored 55% in the exam but the mark for their dissertation was below 55%　→ to be awarded a diploma. 

AFTER EXAM

Candidates for the MA must present a 15,000-word (or 30,000 kana characters) dissertation, either an annotated translation project or a discursive work (in 2 years). 

TRAINERS

• in-house: two full-time teachers (one in Japanese, one in English) and two part-time lecturers.

• visiting lecturers: interpreters/translators in Britain (eg. conference interpreters from EU, patent translators), Japanese interpreting trainer.. 

CAREER AFTERWARD

BBC World, Honda U.K., Marubeni Europe PLC, NEC Semiconductors in Scotland, PeaceBoad (NGO), Toyota Techno Service, Toyota Tsusho UK, Toyota UK, Translation agencies in the U.K., Japan and other countries

MA program website: http://www.bath.ac.uk/esml/main/postgraduate-int.htm

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